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Minister confident of China trade progress

Trade Minister Richard Marles says progress has been made in free trade negotiations with China, but he won't speculate on when a deal might be finalised.

Australian Trade Minister Richard Marles has returned from the latest round of free trade talks with China, confident that progress has been made.

Australia presented China with a revised proposal for an agreement, in an attempt to reinvigorate negotiations that have dragged on for almost a decade.

While he won't give details about that proposal, Mr Marles says it's clearly in the interest of Australia's agricultural industries to secure the FTA as soon as possible.

Mr Marles says that doesn't mean Australia will compromise against its national interest, but says it's important that Australia remains pragmatic.

"What we've got to be doing is thinking less in terms of ceding ground in relation to the negotiations with China, and thinking more about making sure we do not cede ground to the rest of the world in terms of access to the Chinese market," Mr Marles said.

"If an inflexibility in negotiations has prevented us from doing an agreement which is clearly in our national interest, then we need to think differently, and that's what we're doing."

After reassuming the prime ministership, Kevin Rudd said the China FTA talks had progressed at the speed of a lame camel crossing the Sahara Desert.

Mr Marles says that camel's now broken into a trot.

"As to when the camel will complete its journey, if I've learned anything as Trade Minister, it's that you don't make predictions of that kind, because negotiations do go on for a long period.

"But what I do know is that it's really important that we get this camel across the desert."